Winter is Coming

So it happened today, the dreaded S word was uttered during my run...SNOW!!!  The one thing living in Ottawa is you have to embrace winter, its here for at least 5 months so you have no choice.  I have been gradually increasing my running in the winter, running in the snow and cold longer but I do have my limits. A few days ago, my hubby said he knew what to get me for Christmas, running snowshoes.  My first thought was no way, I am not doing that, are you crazy but I have warmed to the idea a bit.  I was thinking of adding cross country skiing to my winter training not snowshoe racing.  We have lots of skiing trails in Gatineau Park that I think would be cool to explore and while I know it is not, skiing seems more relaxing then snowshoe racing. I am sure this winter I will do a bit of both and maybe I can pick a clear favorite.

Today I did my longest run of my marathon training, 34k.  I ran 5k to the Running Room at 6:15 pace and then did 29k at 6:44 pace with my friend Kory.  It was nice to run with Kory, I have not really talked much with her since IMMT and we managed to fill the hours easily with talk to races, life and cooking.  I have the greatest running and triathlon friends and by the end of the run we were ready to sign my hubby, her hubby and herself up for a marathon next fall with a back up in case they don't get in.  Luckily Neale agreed that he would be game for it if they did get in and I would be happy to go as the cheer squad, the other option has a half for me but I am doing a 70.3 on Sept 18th so I am happy not to race if they get in.

I almost have a race plan for 2016, a few more details to work out but it is coming together nicely.  A few half marathons, a Half Iron distance race or maybe two and some shorter distance races for fun.  I am just trying to decide if I am going back to Musselman to do the half for redemption or not. Last year the heat and hills on the run course beat me so I have to decide how much I want a do over. I am doing Barrelman on Sept 18th and the Cornwall tri Olympic distance unless it ends up as the same weekend as IMMT.  I want to go back and volunteer again this year, I love the race and I want to give back to all the awesome volunteers who where there for me this year.

Today Neale and I are getting some photos taken since we never did get any photos together after IMMT.  I would like just one photo of us in our finisher t shirts, with our medals where I do not look like death warmed up.  I am so lucky to have an Ironman/marathoner spouse who gets me and understands why I do these crazy things.  He has crazy plans of his own for the next few years and I can not wait to support him as he supports me in my crazy ideas, like suicide week but more to come on that later :-)

Blast off to Space

It's blast off to Space Coast marathon training after a delay of a few weeks, well maybe more then a few.  My last post was Sept 5th and I was about to head off to Quebec City for a 5 day holiday with my hubby. We had planned on being in Peru but could not get passes for the Inca trail so we put it on hold until 2016 and booked Quebec City instead.  On day 4 we got word my MIL was not doing well and we headed home to get our work up to date in case we needed to go to New Zealand.  On Sept 14 we flew to NZ for her funeral and I only managed 4 run in the next 2 weeks.  It was cold and rainy most of the time we were in NZ but on the last few day we manged some better weather and did a bit of sightseeing.  It was a long trip for few weeks in NZ but I am glad I went and saw Neale's family, it had been about 15 years for some of them.

Back home in Ottawa I tried to get back to my training but all my runs were a struggle and my legs really hurt.  I managed a 23k and a 28k long run but after that I really hurt and went to see my massage therapist.  My IT bands were tight, probably due to the flying and she sorted me out and helped my back pain as well.  It was Thursday before I managed to get out for a run and when I did I was flying, 10k at 5:47 pace and it felt great.  Yesterday I did 32k in the sunshine with a few other runners and for the first time my long run felt amazing.

Lucie, Vince and Lori who ran with me yesterday

I also started swimming again this week, it was fun to be back in the pool.  I hope to work on my swimming this year to improve my speed and stroke so I can gain some time in my tri's in the future.  I think my winter training will revolve around the 3 S's, swimming, strength and speed.  First I have one more marathon to do Nov 29th and a hilly half marathon Oct 31.  I have been doing hill repeats and running hilly routes in preparation of the Oct 31 race but the marathon is fairly flat so I can ease back in Nov.  I did prepare a schedule for myself now that I am coach-less and I more or less following it, work is busy and if I need to drop anything spinning gets the chop in favor of running but I will try to balance this up in the winter months.  

I have spent a lot of time thinking about my Ironman and I am ready to put it to bed, it happened, I did the best I could that day, it was not the race I wanted but I finished...I am an Ironman.  It is time to stop beating myself up about it, wondering and replaying the what ifs in my mind and letting go of the regret.  I think it comes from being a goal orientated person, I am not satisfied with less then achieving my goal.  I had to remember my goal was to become and Ironman and I accomplished it, I said I would be happy with a time under 16:59:59 and I got that so it is time to look forward and not look back.  I finally went to look at my photos and there is one of me finishing and you see Mike Reilly calling me an Ironman and I think I am going to buy it, I look terrible but it is what it is and I want to remember that moment. I am proud to be the last to cross the finish line before midnight and this photo will help me remember that every time I look at it.  It is also time to get my tattoo so over the Christmas break from swimming I will, I just need to decide what I want.  People keep asking me if I will do another one...maybe.  I have set several goals that need to happen before I think about it and if I hit them and I get the itch again then maybe, we will see but I have learned to never say never.